JIH Urges UP Govt. to Save the Institution in the Interest of Education
Mohammad Ali Jauhar University on the outskirts of Rampur, a town in Uttar Pradesh, seems to have become a victim of political vendetta, with the state government having acquired 173 acres of the university land, out of a total of 350 acres, and registered it as government land in state revenue records. However, the matter is pending in the Allahabad High Court.
The UP government’s actions during admission time discourage the students from seeking admission. Against 2500 students till 2018, the student strength has now come down to 1100. The university runs engineering, management, pharmacy, law, B.Ed, paramedical, humanities, Islamic studies, and many other courses. It has state-of-the-art buildings comparable with any of the best universities in the country.
The university got approval from the University Grants Commission and was approved as a private university under former CM Akhilesh Yadav. The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) granted it the status of a minority institution in May 2013. SP leader Azam Khan is the lifelong chancellor of the university and is governed by the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University Trust.
After the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh, Azam Khan and members of his family are facing various criminal charges related to cheating and land grab. One of the cases pertains to the PWD which claims that the university’s main gate was built on PWD land and moved the court for its removal and claimed damages.
PWD also alleged the university has blocked the movement of the public by erecting a gate at the university’s main entrance from where a ‘PWD-built’ road begins and passes through the university campus. However, the university authorities dispute the claim of the PWD and deny any blocking of the free movement of the public from the main gate and via ‘PWD Road’. But they do accept that the ‘PWD Road’ and the main gate are on the university land, and keeping the gate and the road open for 24 hours will threaten the university’s security. The university authorities say that there is a four-lane government road along the northern boundary of the university, which can be used by anyone interested in going to the river Kosi. Why threaten university security?
Another allegation against the university is that it has grabbed 3.75 bigha land belonging to 40 owners. The university claims that they had paid the owners but could not get the land transferred in the name of the trust. The university offered to pay them again, provided they agreed to transfer the land to the university. But as many as 27 people of the Shaukat Nagar village, adjoining the university, filed an FIR. “But, after they came to know of the conspiracy to demolish the university and close it down, the villagers have submitted applications to withdraw the complaints,” alleged one of the university officials. Ironically, it was the Shaukat Nagar villagers who challenged the government officials who wanted to demolish the main gate of the university after the district court’s orders on August 2.
A delegation of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) visited the university on August 10 under the leadership of Malik Moatasim Khan, JIH’s Community Affairs Secretary, to know the ground situation. After meeting the university authorities, the delegation called on District Collector Ravindra Kumar Mandar and briefed him about the actual situation.
“The Muslim community is very backward in education, and the university that has come up in Rampur is for the benefit of all the communities. But administration’s actions, particularly at the time of admissions, create awe and fear among the students that has resulted in a decline in the strength of the students in the university. This is a matter of concern for the community. The Muslim community, particularly its women, is very backward in education. They can benefit from the university, which is just on the city’s outskirts if it runs properly. A university does not belong to any community. It is a different thing who runs it. It is a national asset. Every community can benefit from it,” the delegation told the Collector, requesting him to ensure that no harm is done to the buildings of the university that have been built with investments of hundreds of crores of rupees.
The delegation told the Collector that the main issue pertained to the land, which the government could solve in the larger interest of education. The government should show magnanimity. Even if some government land has been included in the university, the government should either allot it to the university or claim its compensation. But demolishing the buildings or taking steps that lead to the closure of the university is not justified.
The Collector, who listened to the delegation with rapt attention, assured that the administration would not go ahead with demolishing the buildings. As for court cases, he said these have to be decided by the courts only, and the rest by the authorities at higher levels in the government.
[The writer is Chief Editor of India Tomorrow]